The Act of Killing by Joshua Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer reserved the right to edit the material as he wished, and in fact used the material for this documentary, including only short scenes of the supposed fiction film Arsan dan Aminah (Arsan and Aminah). With the script changing a few times, their experience of the killings was adapted to their favorite film genres: gangster, western, and musical. They wrote the scripts and played themselves and their victims. Their fiction filmmaking process provides the film’s dramatic arc, and on the film sets the filmmaker could safely challenge them about what they did, without fear of being arrested or beaten up, while for the protagonists they were seemingly safe spaces to explore their deepest memories and feelings (as well as their blackest humor).
